Senior Labour figures seeking to water down plans to decriminalise abortion

Senior Labour figures want to water down proposed legislation to decriminalise abortion in England and Wales ahead of a historic Commons debate on the issue.

Some senior Labour figures have privately expressed concern that Johnson’s proposal goes too far because of the provision of telemedicine in England and Wales, whereby a woman seeking an early-stage abortion can be prescribed tablets at home without seeing a doctor.

Under rules introduced during the Covid pandemic and later made permanent, women in England and Wales can obtain abortion pills at home after a remote consultation.

There are concerns that under Johnson’s proposal, a woman who misleads an abortion provider to obtain pills to terminate a pregnancy at home after 24 weeks would not be committing an offence.

Some senior Labour figures want to see a narrower proposal that in effect ensures women can never be imprisoned for ending a pregnancy, but does not completely remove the criminal offence.

Calls to overhaul the law have grown louder since Carla Foster, a mother of three, was jailed last year for ending her pregnancy by using pills after the legal time limit.